Garden News | February 2025

Welcome to another new month! February is when we can hopefully start to think about saying goodbye to Winter and welcoming in the signs of a hopeful new Spring here at Leonardslee.

In fact, although we’ve had some cold and wet spells during January, there have been odd days of blue skies and sunshine so there are already bursts of colour popping in to life around the gardens, so why not see what you can spot the next time you’re here.

Although our plants are not far ahead of themselves as last year when we had an incredibly mild winter, there is still plenty to enjoy. As you start to meander along the garden paths this month, you’ll certainly notice plenty of early-flowering camellias on your journey. Camellia japonica ‘Little Bit’ is a fascinating, ruffled bicolour variety that you’ll be able to find in either Camellia Grove, Camellia Walk or near the Clocktower Kitchen. The elegant white ‘Cornish Snow’ can always be trusted to flower in February in the Loderi Garden or in Camellia Grove. We’re excited that C. x williamsii ‘Cherub’ will be in full flower during February too. It was bred in 1965 by Sir Giles Loder and is unique to Leonardslee. Some of our early flowering types near the Doll’s House Museum will also be looking good this month, particularly the pink hues of C. x williamsii ‘St Ewe’ and the delicate white C. x vernalis ‘Ginryu’.

Sarcococca, also know as the Christmas Box

Our Rhododendron collection won’t be in its full pomp until probably April usually but there are already some of the brave, early flowerers doing their thing right now, particularly Rhododendron nobleanum. Introduced into cultivation in 1835, these plants reliably flower early, often even before Christmas. You find specimens here in Camellia Walk, in the island beds near Leonardslee House, on the corner of Daffodil Lawn and in the Loderi Garden for example.

One of my favourite winter shrubs is the Sarcococca, also know as the Christmas Box. It may be a long time since Christmas but this plant is hitting full flower at the moment and it smells amazing. You’ll find Sarcococca humilis and S. orientalis in various locations in the garden and you’ll probably catch their scent in the air before you see them but perhaps my favourite is S. hookeriana var. digyna ‘Purple Stem’ behind the Rock Garden. The reason that winter-flowering shrubs are often so heavily scented is that they have to work extra hard to attract the few pollinating insects around at this time of year, which is of course great news for us!

There are also plenty of hellebores to enjoy in February in areas such as Camellia Walk, the Stumpery Beds and in the raised beds near the retail building. Other low-growing highlights include the many early Iris that are showing their heads about the freshly-mulched soil, the beautiful golden yellow of Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconites), the ever-popular Cyclamen and perhaps the star of the February show – the Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)! The aptly named Snowdrop Bank down on the west side of the lakes near the Engine House café is the most obvious place to start but you’ll also be able to seek them out in the Rock Garden, the beds near Leonardslee House and in Camellia Walk to name but a few locations.

Snowdrop

Some people may think that Winter is a quiet time for gardeners but far from it here at Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens. We’ll be busy finishing up the likes of mulching the ornamental beds and leaf clearing this month but also making a start on some key jobs for this time of year. Our Campsis climbers will need a prune in February for example. Found here growing up the Doll’s House Museum and the Courtyard Café walls, this job involves cutting back all the sideshoots to within two or three buds of the main stems as well as removing any weak growth and cutting back damaged stems close to their base.

Another large pruning job we’ll be tackling will be some restoration work on some of our winter-flowering camellias near the herb bed, an area which is used by our chefs in the Interlude restaurant. These camellias like to be pruned immediately after flowering as this will give the plants the best chance of blooming again next year. It will also open up the space for us to continue our redesign of this part of the garden.

We’ll also be cutting back deciduous ornamental grasses and tired looking ferns towards the end of this month. We’ll cut them to the base before any new fresh growth has a chance to emerge so that when they do, they have a clear, unencumbered path to the light. Cornus stems on shrubby ornamental dogwoods can also be cut back at this time of year, again towards the end of the month. Here we’ll tackle the likes of ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ down at the lakes and Cornus alba in the raised beds in this manner, although if it’s very cold in February we might leave this job until March. Either way, this process should be done before new leaves start to appear and will allow plenty of fresh, new growth to appear which will provide the stunning coloured stems for next Winter. And of course, any cut stems can easily be propagated, providing us with new plants for planting out later in the year.

In our polytunnels we’ll begin the marathon seed sowing work as well in February, although this work will stretch out into March and beyond too. We’ll be sowing seeds for displays of annuals and biennials around the garden such as Foxgloves, Verbascum and Hollyhocks for instance and for the bedding plants we use in some of our container schemes.

So, plenty to keep you all interested and plenty to keep us busy once again! I look forward to seeing you all in the garden again very soon.

Jamie Harris, Head Gardener